Marathwada reservoirs fall sharply, low-storage dams reserved for drinking water

Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, Sep 7: Maharashtra's Marathwada region is facing growing water stress as rainfall remains significantly below normal and reservoir storage has fallen sharply from last year, prompting the administration to reserve water from low-storage irrigation projects exclusively for drinking purposes.

The region's eight districts have received 388.3 mm of rainfall since June 1, against the normal 552.2 mm — a deficit of 29.7 per cent. Rainfall has been particularly poor in September, with just 5.2 mm recorded so far, compared with the normal 38.7 mm for the period.

Latur and Parbhani are among the worst-affected districts, having received only 57.3 per cent and 54.6 per cent of their normal rainfall, respectively, according to official data.

The administration has begun managing available water resources in irrigation projects across the region. Divisional Commissioner G Shreekant said water in projects with low storage would be kept entirely for drinking water and no planning for the upcoming Rabi season would be undertaken for now.

"The available water resources will be kept fully reserved for drinking purposes and no planning for the upcoming Rabi season will be undertaken. We will decide on planning for the next season after September," Shreekant told reporters.

He said water from dams such as Manjara and Makhni, which have low storage levels, had already been reserved exclusively for drinking purposes.

Authorities have also stepped up surveillance around water sources to prevent unauthorised extraction. Patrol teams have been deployed and pumps used to illegally lift water will be seized, the divisional commissioner said.

Marathwada has 11 major irrigation projects. Their combined storage currently stands at 123.32 TMC, or 67.73 per cent of their total capacity. On the same date last year, the projects held 176.30 TMC, equivalent to 96.82 per cent of their capacity.

Several individual projects are facing particularly severe shortages.

The Sina Kolegaon project in Dharashiv, which has a capacity of 3.15 TMC, currently has no water in storage. The Manjara dam in Beed, a key source for Latur, is holding only 12.26 per cent of its capacity.

The Nimna Dudhna project in Parbhani has also seen a steep decline in storage. It held 74.67 per cent of its capacity on the same day last year, but the figure has fallen to 22.49 per cent this year.

With the monsoon still determining the availability of water for the coming agricultural season, authorities will reassess the situation after September before deciding whether water can be allocated for Rabi cultivation.